MUSIC REVIEW

MUSIC REVIEW; Clarity and Atmospherics, Courtesy of Levine

By ANTHONY TOMMASINI

Published: February 19, 2002

When James Levine accepted the entreaties of the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra to become its new conductor in 1999, it seemed an inexplicable career move. By most measures the orchestra had deteriorated under the authoritarian Romanian-born conductor Sergiu Celibidache, who was music director from 1979 until his death at 84 in 1996. Celibidache was a divisive figure full of contradictions. He won a cultlike following for his interpretations, especially of Brahms and Bruckner. But to many listeners his performances were oddly willful and poorly played.

Whatever one's take on its past, the Munich Philharmonic's administration agreed that the orchestra needed work, hence its interest in Mr. Levine, a proven orchestra builder. While acknowledging the problems, he asserted that the orchestra was better, and had much more potential, than it was given credit for. He was confident that together they could grow.

To date the orchestra under Mr. Levine has received mixed but mostly encouraging reviews in Europe. Over the weekend he brought the Munich Philharmonic to Carnegie Hall for three concerts, its first appearances in New York since he took over. The performances were energetic, richly colored and insightful. If the Munich Philharmonic is not yet a great orchestra in terms of technical finesse, these concerts offered some great music making, which is ultimately more important.

The players -- among them a large complement of young and eager musicians, including many women -- are clearly excited by their new conductor. Often, when Mr. Levine gave the cue to the violins for an incisive phrase, half the players would rise from their seats as they emphatically dug into their strings with a down-bow stroke. The programs were long and demanding, surely to show the range and stamina of the orchestra, as well as make musical points. Mr. Levine's programming in Munich of 20th-century repertory and recent works by living composers, including many Americans, represents an enormous shift from Celibidache's conservative tastes.

Friday night's program began with a performance of Mahler's Fourth Symphony that brought refreshing textural clarity to a score often milked for lush sonorities. Mr. Levine was more concerned with making evident the layout of the phrases: the musical rhetoric, so to speak. The soprano Heidi Grant Murphy brought sweet tone and angelic innocence with a touch of resignation to Mahler's setting of ''Das Himmlische Leben'' in the final movement. Then Mr. Levine led a distinguished performance of Schubert's Ninth (the ''Great'') Symphony, at once magisterial and lithe. By pairing these works, he was calling attention to the Schubertian charms of the Mahler, like the gently rustic ländler movement, and the Mahlerian scope of the Schubert.

Saturday night began with a vibrant, big-gestured Mozart Symphony No. 39, followed by a compelling account of John Harbison's restless Symphony No. 3. Mr. Harbison's 1991 work begins with an abrupt melodic figure that the composer rightly characterizes as ''sounding like an ending,'' then spends some 25 minutes rigorously exploring the implications of that quizzical opening.

Then came the Schoenberg Piano Concerto with Peter Serkin as soloist, whose deeply expressive, rhythmically alert and imaginative playing of this great work was matched unerringly by Mr. Levine and the orchestra. The concert ended with a rough but riveting performance of Strauss's ''Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks.''

Sunday afternoon's program offered strongly profiled, structurally clear and exciting traversals of two major symphonies, Beethoven's Seventh and Brahms's Fourth, preceded respectively by Ives's ''Three Places in New England'' and Gyorgy Ligeti's ''Lontano.'' Again Mr. Levine was drawing comparisons, it seemed, this time between the Ives and the Ligeti. The undulant, quietly intense, slowly shifting harmonies of the Ives, especially in ''The Housatonic at Stockbridge,'' seemed a precursor by some 60 years to Mr. Ligeti's shimmering, atmospheric, weirdly beautiful ''Lontano.''

The Munich Philharmonic still lacks a final degree of technical command. That something goes awry in the midst of a raucous outburst in ''Till Eulenspiegel'' is to be expected. But too often to ignore, the players would get a little out of sync executing, say, an ascending cello line of eighth-notes in the Mozart symphony.

Knowing how Mr. Levine builds an orchestra, you can tell that his priorities are right. His approach is to first get the musicians to think together, to have in mind a collective musical intent, the shape of a phrase, the color, the character. Then accuracy will take care of itself over time. He is not one to stop a rehearsal and overly fuss with a phrase until every note is nailed.

The problem is that because Mr. Levine never intended to give up the Metropolitan Opera, he has not had enough time fully to accomplish the building process in Munich. Next season he will lead just 12 of its 35 programs. It is significant that his title there is chief conductor, not music director.

Now, as is widely known, Mr. Levine has accepted the music directorship of the Boston Symphony starting in 2004, when his contract with Munich ends. A spokesman for the orchestra insisted on Sunday that, though disappointed, the Munich musicians understood Mr. Levine's decision and were appreciative of the five years he will have given them.

However intermittent his commitment, Mr. Levine deserves much credit for the high quality of these performances, which were accorded ardent ovations. Mr. Levine gets people to make music.

Photos: James Levine with members of the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra. (Rahav Segev for The New York Times)(pg. E5); James Levine leading the Munich Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall. (Rahav Segev for The New York Times)(pg. E1)